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Higher expenses have caused Costco’s first quarter results to hit a speed bump, according to a report in supermarketnews.com.

The industry publication reported that the Issaquah, Wash.-based club retailer also blamed foreign currency fluctuations and a huge drop in gas prices for sales and earnings that were slightly below expectations.

According to a report in etfdailynews.com, Costco earned $480 million, or $1.09 per diluted share, in the last quarter. Earnings fell 2 percent from the $1.12 per share earned in the same period last year; analyst expectations had called for $1.17 per share, the media outlet reported.

Costco, which has 697 warehouses -- close to 500 of them in the United States -- was impacted by fluctuations in the foreign exchange, etfdailynews.com reported.

The rising U.S. dollar, caused revenue generated by the 210 stores the retailer has outside the U.S. to be worth less after it was converted into the domestic currency, etfdailynews.com reported.